Chapter 306 Cao Thief!

Huailing County, Xia Pi County.

After Cao Cao killed Tao Qian, he did not return to Pengcheng, but came to Huailing County to wait for good news from Chen Gong.

After a series of battles, Cao Cao ran out of food and grass. Not to mention military pay, even eating every day became a problem.

If it weren't for the support of the Chen family in Huailing County, the 20,000 men under Commander Cao Ren would probably have mutinied.

But this is not a long-term solution. If there is no new source of income, even if the Cao family empties out their savings, they will not be able to support so many people.

By the end of the year, Cao Cao was really going bankrupt.

Although Pengcheng and Langya counties had already started cultivating crops, with the casualties on the front lines, all the farmers were gone, so where would the food come from?

You should know that except for some troops in Youzhou, Liangzhou and Bingzhou during the reign of Emperor Ling of Han who were professional soldiers, most of the soldiers of the princes were semi-professional and usually had to farm.

No soldiers means a decline in the labor force.

The decline in the labor force means that large numbers of people will soon go hungry.

Large numbers of people starving means that someone will rebel again.

This is a cycle.

At the beginning, when Cao Cao surrendered the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou, he relied not only on military force, but also on promises from all sides.

For 300,000 people, we have to provide them with land and housing, exempt them from taxes, and build trust between them.

Otherwise, why would the Yellow Turbans in Qingzhou work for Cao Cao? Wouldn't it be better to rebel?
Now we have people, but not enough land and food.

Cao Cao is like a business owner on the verge of bankruptcy. He is so anxious that he can't eat or sleep well every day, and he still has to put on a smile for others every day. It's so painful.

this day.

Chen Jiaru came as usual to invite Cao Cao to a banquet.

The visitors were Chen Deng and Chen Yuanlong, who had been very close to Cao Cao these days. The two of them had similar interests and temperaments.

Every day they either discuss which young woman is the most beautiful or discuss whose concubine they are going to have sex with tonight.

In this era, women had a low status, concubines had no human rights, and were often given away as gifts. There was nothing wrong with the behavior of Cao Cao and Chen Deng, as long as they did not play with other people's wives.

Originally Chen Deng was not that kind of person, but after being brought out in this aspect by Cao Cao, he could not stop.

"Meng De, there is a poetry club today."

Chen Deng made a face and it was obvious that this poetry club was not serious and most of the participants were women from prominent families.

You have to know that Huailing County is in a state of war readiness and a war could break out at any time. It is conceivable how powerful the people involved are to hold a poetry gathering at this critical juncture.

On the surface, Xuzhou was entirely under the control of Cao Cao, but in reality it could only be said that it was jointly managed with the aristocratic families.

Cao Cao also wanted to rule the whole state like Jin Mao, but his strength did not allow it, not to mention that he now had to rely on the Huailing Chen family for survival.

Since this kind of activity could not be banned, Cao Cao enjoyed it.

"Who's coming today?"

Cao Cao was eight years older than Chen Deng, and there was no generation gap between the two since they had the same hobbies.

However, as a veteran, Cao Cao was better at concealing things than Chen Deng.

Chen Deng approached Cao Cao and said, "This is called a poetry gathering, but in fact it is a business meeting jointly held by the Mi family of Donghai and Zuo Rong."

The representative figure of the Mi family in Donghai is Mi Zhu, a very wealthy family.

Zuo Rong was originally a general under Tao Qian. Cao Cao was such a powerful warrior that Tao Qian did not have time to take all his men away, so he left Zuo Rong in Xia Pi County, Xuzhou.

Later, after Cao Cao occupied Xuzhou, in order to appease the people's hearts, he did not settle accounts with Tao Qian's former subordinates, but instead let Zuo Rong escape.

Zuo Rong is not a good person. He will do anything immoral as long as he can make money.

The most outrageous thing is that this guy was a devout Buddhist. Many temples in Xia Pi were built by him, and he made tremendous contributions to the development of Buddhism.

Now Zuo Rong has lost his official position and has become a businessman, mainly engaged in violent industries such as human trafficking.

When Cao Cao heard that the Chamber of Commerce was run by these two people, he became even more interested.

He wants women, and he wants resources too!

"Then hurry up!" Cao Cao urged, "I can't wait any longer."

Upon hearing this, Chen Deng curled up a meaningful smile. He was well aware of Cao Cao's ambition and urgency, but he was also secretly thinking about how to use this cooperation to gain more benefits for himself.

"Is Meng De in a hurry to see the beauty, or to see Mi Zhu and Zuo Rong?"

"Haha." Cao Cao laughed and said, "Yuanlong doesn't know me, so of course he wants both!"

Chen Deng looked very hurt and sighed, "I helped you so much, but who knew that the old would be replaced by the new."

Cao Cao laughed and scolded: "Everyone says Chen Yuanlong is smart, but I think he is really cunning!"

"Don't worry, I, Cao Mengde, am not a stingy person."

"If you help me make this happen, your Chen family will definitely benefit from it."

Chen Deng corrected: "It's not the Huailing Chen family, but my Chen father and son!"

Cao Cao looked at Chen Deng with deep eyes, and laughed again: "Yuanlong loves to joke, I still need your father's help."

Chen Deng's father Chen Gui was still serving as the prime minister of Pei State, which was right next to Xuzhou, so what Cao Cao said was not wrong.

However, with the passage of time and the change of ownership of Yuzhou, it became a big question whether Chen Deng's father could continue to serve as the prime minister of Pei State.

"Alas." Chen Deng sighed, "To be honest, my father will be returning to Huailing soon, and there will be chaos in the Chen family by then."

Chen Deng looked at Cao Cao, his face full of guilt and said: "Then I will no longer be able to help you, Meng De."

In the final analysis, Chen Deng just wanted to confront Cao Cao and say, we can no longer afford to support this money-eating beast of yours, so find another financial sponsor as soon as possible.

Today's poetry reading is a manifestation of the breakup between the two parties.

Chen Deng had fought against Jin Mao before, and that guy was even more difficult to deal with. Cao Cao could hardly protect himself, so he should stay away from him in the future.

Cao Cao was stunned. He didn't expect the situation to take a turn for the worse.

Without the support of the Chen family, Cao's army would have no choice but to rob openly.

However, since Chen Deng had already pointed out the target of the robbery, Cao Cao could not continue to fleece the Chen family, so he said, "Don't worry, I have a clever plan."

Chen Deng asked curiously, "What a brilliant plan!"

Cao Cao smiled mysteriously: "You will know when the time comes."

Chen Deng glanced at Cao Cao suspiciously, feeling that Cao had ill intentions.

There was no point in asking further, so Chen Deng led the way to the poetry meeting.

To Cao Cao's surprise, such an elegant event as a poetry meeting was held in a brothel.

Looking up at the plaque, the three big characters "Yihongyuan" made Cao Cao's pupils shrink suddenly.

Now, the only people in the world who don’t know that Yihongyuan is a vassal of Jinmao Industry are probably Gongsun Zan, Yuan Shao and others.

Because Jinmao has not yet expanded its business to the north of the Yellow River, but someone as well-informed as Yuan Shao probably knows about it.

This is not a good place for Cao Cao.

Right now Chen Gong is still requesting support in Huaiyin County, and Cao Cao does not dare to be too harsh on Yihongyuan. Otherwise, once Jin Mao gets angry, let alone support, it will be a problem whether they can coexist peacefully.

Everyone knows that the general protects his own people.

As long as you dare to move, the general will move you to tears.

Chen Deng was not quite clear about this. Those princes who had suffered misfortune because of Yihongyuan would not spread their embarrassing stories everywhere.

"What happened to Meng De?" Chen Deng walked forward a few steps but did not see Cao Cao. When he turned around, he saw Cao Cao staring at the plaque in a daze.

"Nothing." Cao Cao quickly restrained his expression, laughed to cover up his emotions, and said: "Mi Zhu and Zuo Rong really know how to find a place. It's really elegant to hold a poetry meeting here." "That's right." Chen Deng felt the same way and said: "The Yihong Courtyard is full of mediocre women, how can they compare with the ladies."

Cao Cao and Chen Deng looked at each other and smiled as if they were fellow travelers.

At this time, the madam saw the two of them, immediately put down her work, walked over with a big smile on her face, leaned next to Chen Deng and said with a smile: "Oh, it turns out to be Master Chen. A batch of fresh goods has arrived in the past few days. They are clean and hygienic. Do you want to try it, Master?"

Suddenly, Cao Cao's eyes changed when he looked at Chen Deng. It turned out that Chen Deng was a frequent visitor to Yihongyuan.

Chen Deng coughed twice and pretended to be calm, "I'm here for a poetry gathering today, let's try again another day."

"Oh, a poetry reading." The madam said enthusiastically, "Please come in, it's in the backyard."

It didn't become cold because of lack of business.

When Cao Cao saw this, he was secretly amazed.

Chen Deng was used to it, and led the way with ease.

Cao Cao quickly followed, looked at Chen Deng with a half-smile and said, "Yuanlong turned out to be such a person. I was wrong about him."

"Meng De, why are you making fun of me?" Chen Deng countered, "Your hobby isn't that good. I spent money on it."

You take someone else's wife for free and don't even pay for it. It's obvious which is better.

As the two chatted and laughed, the view ahead suddenly became clear.

I saw a huge garden with exquisite pavilions and towers. Young women gathered in twos and threes, each holding a thin paper book.

When Cao Cao came here for the first time, he was amazed. He never thought that there was such a hidden world in a brothel.

Chen Deng noticed something else and said in surprise, "Mi Zhu and Zuo Rong are really rich. They actually gave everyone a book of paper!"

In this era, productivity was backward and paper was as expensive as gold.

No wonder Chen Deng was surprised. Which rich man would spend gold whenever he made a move?
At this time, the servant guarding the gate saw the two people, came to check Chen Deng's invitation, and then handed each of them a booklet.

Chen Deng flipped open the booklet and found five pages, all of which were blank. He was even more surprised: "It's all blank paper!"

No wonder there are so many young women here today, they are so wealthy and powerful!

Cao Cao was also amazed at the financial resources of Mi Zhu and the other man, and became more confident about today's goal.

Afterwards, Cao Cao and Chen Deng began to wander among the young women, seemingly walking aimlessly, but in fact they were looking for prey.

Finally, the two selected the two most beautiful and most elegant prey, and a fishing operation began.

The two men were well-educated and their poetry and couplets were so easy that they had the two young women completely bewitched in just one hour.

What happened next was simple. A man carried a young woman upstairs, undressed her, and chatted about love and romance.

Night falls.

The grand dinner began.

Mi Zhu and Zuo Rong, who were hosting the poetry meeting, appeared in the field of vision.

However, the two seemed to be looking for someone in the crowd, but they couldn't find anyone after searching through the group of young women.

Mi Zhu called the servants to ask: "Where is the lady?"

The servants dared not keep an eye on the lady's movements, and knew nothing when asked.

Mi Zhu shouted angrily: "Why don't you go find it?"

Soon, the Yihong Courtyard was in chaos.

In the room, Cao Cao and Chen Deng heard the noise and quickly got up from the bed and put on their clothes.

Finally, before being discovered, he escaped from the room and blended into the crowd.

But the two ladies were in dire straits as they were soon discovered.

"Ah!" Mi Zhu roared.

"Bitch!" Zuo Rong drew his sword and killed the person on the bed.

Zuo Rong had just married his wife and they were not deeply in love. Moreover, Zuo Rong was a cruel person who killed people without mercy.

But Mi Zhu and his wife had been deeply in love and couldn't bring themselves to do it.

"Who is it?" Mi Zhu asked his wife with his eyes wide open: "Who is it?"

Mrs. Mi Zhu confessed everything.

"Someone come!" Mi Zhu shouted, "Seal off all the main roads, don't let anyone escape!"

The servants had already made a mistake once and dared not slack off again. They worked very hard to block all eight exits of Yihongyuan.

In order not to attract attention, Chen Deng and Cao Cao did not dare to escape, and unfortunately they were blocked inside and unable to get out.

"Meng De, what should we do?"

Chen Deng had just started playing and this was his first time catching someone cheating, so he was very nervous.

Cao Cao is a seasoned man. He once directly snatched someone else's bride from Yuan Shao. Now it's just a small scene.

"Don't worry, Yuanlong." Cao Cao glanced sharply at the nearest exit and said, "There are only four people guarding it. Kill one later and leave the remaining three to me."

"Ah?" Chen Deng was stunned. Is this the awareness of a veteran?

"I don't have time to explain." Cao Cao approached the four servants step by step and said in a low voice: "Listen to me, you won't go wrong!"

Chen Gong swallowed his saliva. Since things were irreversible, he could only stay calm and nervously grip the hilt of the sword with his left hand.

It’s not that Chen Deng has never killed anyone, but if other people knew about this, his reputation would be ruined.

The most important thing for a scholar is reputation.

Soon, the two walked to the back of the crowd and squeezed forward step by step.

Seeing that there was only one person blocking the way, Cao Cao shouted, "Go!"

Two cold lights came out of the sheath, and blood splattered.

Chen Deng didn't know whether it was because he was nervous or his legs were weak, but he didn't aim carefully and only cut the servant's clothes.

Cao Cao secretly thought that it was not good. When he drew his sword to kill another person, his legs went weak and the trajectory of his sword became slow and crooked, revealing the disadvantages of his stealing behavior.

"Clang!"

The two servants behind reacted quickly, swung their sticks to block the attack, and saved the man that Chen Deng had not killed.

Then, three wooden sticks were raised, and the servants began to shout: "The thieves are here!"

"The thief is here!"

Cao Cao was anxious, so he swung his Qinggang sword, cut off the head of the long stick, and sharpened the stick instead.

The servants saw that Cao Cao was not easy to deal with and took a defensive stance.

Cao Cao was not wearing any armor and did not dare to charge into the battle line rashly. A sharpened wooden stick could still kill someone.

Seeing the servants surrounding him from other directions, Cao Cao became anxious.

At the critical moment, Cao Cao was surprised to see a man appear behind the servant, raise his knife and sweep it across the servant's leg.

The three servants lost their balance and fell back.

Cao Cao saw the opportunity and stepped forward, quickly swinging his sword and killing two people. The other one was killed by Chen Deng.

After the three of them reunited, they disappeared into the night.

When Mi Zhu and Zuo Rong arrived, the ground and walls were covered with blood. Apart from the four corpses, there was no trace of the thieves.

(End of this chapter)